Last Stand for Lucy

I like to surround myself with a diverse group of creative friends—artists, photographers, entrepreneurs, etc., all pursuing their dreams and passions.

Derek Nicholas is one such friend. He’s the lead guitarist for the group, Last Stand for Lucy, with Michael O’Neil as lead singer. Their NYC hardcore/British pop vibe won them the 2010 M.E.A.N.Y. fest and their latest song, Burn Everything, is getting a great deal of airplay on the radio and internet.

Their star is definitely on the rise now, but things were not always so smooth going: Nicholas and O’Neil—who happen to be childhood friends—had to adapt to new and more difficult circumstances when O’Neal’s military service was extended in Iraq via the military’s stop-loss policy. This did not deter either of them however, and they continued to work on their musical collaborations via email, sending clips and songs to fine tune the music they were creating together. Having this fantastic dream of reuniting and being able to play their music together kept both motivated and moving forward. As fate would have it, O’Neil was wounded in a 2006 IED attack—he received the Purple Heart—ending his tour, and bringing him home.

After spending some time to heal, he and Nicholas picked up where they left off. In Nicholas’ words “…this is about the passion for our art…our music. It’s something we have to do or else we’re not us. There are a million reasons to quit and hang it up. We always want it to be about the music—it’s the soundtrack to our existence, and what we stand for.”

What a spectacular and inspiring story of friendship and the courageous pursuit of one’s dreams!

Check out Last Stand for Lucy on iTunes.

For an impromptu music session, I’m wearing a bottle green leather bomber jacket ,purple cashmere turtleneck sweater and sunglasses all by Gucci, Paul Smith black watch plaid wool pant, purple alligator belt with sterling buckle by Ralph Lauren, white and black silk scarf by Turnbull and Asser, high top sneakers by Lanvin and my fragrance is Creed Bois du Portugal.

Photos are by David Khinda.